Pakistan should be negotiator, not participant in Yemen conflict: Imran

SHAFAQNA –Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said Friday that Pakistan should be playing the role of a key negotiator in peace talks rather than becoming a participant in the Yemen war, in a series of tweets posted on his official Twitter account. Imran said Pakistan had suffered huge losses in the past due to its involvement in other wars.

He said Pakistan was facing a huge sectarian issue, adding that the country had already suffered enough in ten years.

Saudi Arabia had said on Thursday that five Muslim countries including Egypt and Pakistan want to participate in the Gulf-led military coalition against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and four other Gulf states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, announced earlier a decision to “answer the call of President Hadi to protect Yemen and his people from the aggression of the (Shia) Houthi militia.“

The Kingdom and its allies launched air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters, who have tightened their grip in southern city of Aden where the country’s president had taken refuge, the Saudi envoy to Washington had said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asserted that any threat to Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity would evoke a strong response from Pakistan.

This was said by Nawaz while chairing a high-level meeting at the PM House to discuss recent developments in the Middle East and to examine Saudi Arabia’s request to join the Gulf-led operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen, said a statement issued by PM House on Thursday.

Nawaz said Pakistan enjoys close and brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and attaches great importance to their security.

Earlier on Thursday, the Foreign Office had said Pakistan was examining Saudi Arabia’s request.

Sartaj Aziz confirmed that top Saudi officials had contacted the Pakistani leadership requesting it to join the Yemen operation. A decision has not yet been taken, Aziz said.